The Golden Age of Independent Publishing
Has there ever been a better time to be an independent author or publisher? The guys don’t think so. Whether it’s the tools available to publish books or the ease of finding readers, there’s never been so many literate people on the planet.
J. and Zach discuss the reasons why, despite J.’s pessimistic outlook on AI, this is the golden age of independent publishing. Put on your rosy glasses and a smile as the career authors get happy on your ass.
The Career Author Podcast is a podcast where co-authors J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon share their struggles and successes as full-time authors, advice for improving your writing craft, and honest discussions of what it takes to build a successful career as an author.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How technology favors the independent author
- Why it’s easy to learn from the masters
- How diversity in storytelling is making the world a better place
- The difference between micro niche and mass markets
Also, J. shares an interesting announcement about Kindle Create.
Send us your ways and hacks – https://thecareerauthor.com/waysandhacks/
Leave us a comment: Are we in the golden age of independent publishing? Why or why not?
Thanks to all of our patrons!
Podcast sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://writinglife.kobobooks.com
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Links:
Kindle Create – https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Create/b?ie=UTF8&node=18292298011
2021 Events – https://thecareerauthor.com/events/
Chapter Check service – https://chaptercheck.com/
The Career Author YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/thecareerauthor
Three Story Method – https://books2read.com/threestorymethod
Three Story Method Workbook – https://amzn.to/37SAR1a
Molten Universe Media – http://www.moltenuniversemedia.com
Comments
10 responses to “The Career Author Podcast: Episode 147 – The Golden Age of Independent Publishing”
Wow. Interesting development today. Your corporate merger sounds logical and exciting; although all mergers sound logical and exciting at the start otherwise they wouldn’t happen. One hopes this won’t involve the asset stripping that often comes with mergers.
But let’s be optimistic, this looks like it could be a promising new direction. I love ‘Writers’ Ink.’
I have doubts about investing too much time pursuing trad publishing. My tarot suggests mid-list authors will be dropped en-masse as trad publishers concentrate on authors that earn them money. Some trad publishers will probably try hard to poach successful Indies. Why wouldn’t they? Successful Indies are cash cows. Trad publishers might only buy one series from an Indie, maybe as a fit for their catalogue. One day they may even buy ‘options’ from successful Indies a la the film industry; paying a successful Indie a sweetener before a book or series is written. That could be interesting. So many bestselling Indies could end up as hybrids.
Therefore my suggestion to anyone interested in trad contracts is better to concentrate on getting a bestselling Indie book because whilst trad publishers will still take on newbies I bet most will be celebrities or photogenic younguns with a degree in English from Oxbridge and Ivy League universities. Feel free to call me a cynic.
To answer your question it is possible we are in the golden age of publishing but like all golden ages, one never knows until it’s all over. So best live in the moment as if it is a golden age and have fun; I am.
I’m looking forward to your new direction. My tarot points to win win, so no pressure 🙂.
Great show guys.
Really appreciate your support and positive outlook, Chris. Decisions like this are never easy.
Thanks for all your support, Chris! The great thing is that all three of us strongly believe in the indie model. For J.D., it’s a book-by-book decision and he makes whatever the best business decision is for that particular project. I’m looking forward to having those conversations with him as I, too, would like to have as many options on the table as possible, though my heart will always be with indie and I will continue to publish that way for the foreseeable future.
I knew it! I sensed this was coming, I could hear it in your voices, because I’ve been there many times, not with a podcast but with other commitments. There is a time when you’re just done. The merge with Writer’s, Ink sounds great. I listen to it regularly and, J, you’re a fantastic interviewer. It will be interesting to hear the conversations when Zach joins you.
I’ll miss this podcast! First the Writer’s Well, now this. 🙁 What will I do with my Wednesdays and Thursdays?
To answer your question: I would be excited to be publishing my first book now if I wasn’t concerned about the country devolving into a civil war after the election. Other than that…I agree, this is a great time to publish.
Thanks, Kim. We really appreciate your support and the kind words.
I’m a terrible liar. Rotten poker player. I’m not surprised you saw it on my face or heard it in my voice. I do believe adding Zach to WI is going to be great.
Don’t worry. Every election is touted as, “the most important election ever” and yet we all seem to come out the other side. No matter what, we’ll be here. Those 2 rich, old, white men don’t get to decide our future. We do!
Thanks, Kim! I’m really excited to jump over to their show and bring J.D. into the conversations J. and I have already been having here.
I can’t say that I wasn’t disappointed when I heard that the Career Author podcast was coming to an end, but I take comfort in the thought that it will live on in Writer’s Ink. You guys have such a great run, but I know all good things must come to an end.
If this is the Golden Age, what is next, Silver? And what would that look like? What will be the balance between indies and trad?
I was sort of looking forward to episode 300 of the Career Author where you you low on topic ideas and talked about the weather and hockey for 48 minutes. Lol!
Thanks for all you do. I’m looking forward to this next evolution.
Ha! I’m not sure if J.D. is a hockey fan.
Thanks, buddy. Glad you’re with us on this journey.
Not going to lie I smile every time Zach says Landmark in the beginning of each episode.
I will say that I am going to miss the Landmark episodes of the career author, but I get the merge and change. Most of the currently running podcasts are all interview podcasts. If you only have two co hosts you end up running out of things to talk about.
I look forward to new Landmark episodes of The Writer’s Ink. I am also glad you finally got comments up and running over there. I checked the first couple times and didn’t see it so I stopped going. In signing up for the revision mastermind, I saw Chris’ comment (of course) and realized it was back on. I’ll be over there once we end this run.
Thanks, man. We really appreciate your support.